Peking & The Tulip Affair by Nick Carter Read Free Book Online

soldier and proud of it "Yes, sir."
    "You questioned the guards personally?" Bormann asked for the fourth time.
    "Yes."
    "No man left his post?"
    Stryker shook his head.
    "Question them again," Bormann ordered. "I don't believe in ghosts. A man of flesh and blood did this deed. Keep after those guards. One of them must have left his post. But which one? Keep after all of them. Break them down. The man who left his post must confess."
    "But why should he leave his post?" Stryker asked. "Unless he was bribed?"
    "Nonsense. There has to be an explanation. And it isn't bribery. No, not bribery with money. You don't plan a mission and then approach a guard with money, hoping he will accept it and take off. That's ridiculous. But a woman can seduce a man away from his post Yes — a woman." Bormann nodded his head slowly. "That makes more sense, doesn't it?"
    "Yes, I suppose it does," Captain Stryker said weakly.
    "But you don't think so, is that it?" Bormann lifted a bottle of whisky and poured some into a glass. "It isn't hard for a man like Nick Carter to find a woman to help him. Even in Red China."
    "Perhaps she was sent with Carter to aid him?" Stryker said.
    "Yes. That's possible." Bormann drank a third of his whisky. "Either he brought a woman with him or found one here to help him. That doesn't matter, anyway. The thing that does matter is he's done damage. I can't have our men get into a panic. I need them for the right moment, and that may be very soon."
    "The drug is almost perfected?"
    "According to Kerner," Bormann said. "Yes, he's sure he's close to perfecting Agent Z. Very close. And then we strike. We strike hard." His voice rose and grated against Stryker's ears. "Germany is waiting for us, Captain Stryker. We cannot fail our nation."
    Stryker almost raised his arm in the Nazi salute. He wanted to click his heels. It would be like the old days.
    "Agent Z," Bormann said, lowering his voice. He was calm again. "It will be our salvation. You can do anything with Agent Z, depending on the dosage." He saw how eager Stryker was, hungry for more information about Agent Z. Only he and Kerner knew the real potential of Agent Z. He had fed his men bits and pieces to whet their appetite. To them Agent Z was a secret weapon, a great weapon. "I can inject you with Agent Z and you would become my slave," he suddenly boasted.
    "I am your slave now," Stryker said humbly.
    "But think, Captain Stryker. What if you weren't my slave but a high government official? I find a way of getting you alone and then I use Agent Z. Your mind becomes clouded, open to suggestion. I whisper in your ear, plant seeds of hate in your brain. You think the way I want you to think. Your whole personality changes. You are in a hypnotic spell that lasts forever. You are a different person. You are just what I want you to be. Imagine that, Stryker. Conquering the minds of government officials. You control them. And then you control their nation."
    "It's a form of brainwashing, isn't it?"
    "Yes," Bormann mused. "You can say that"
    "Science has taken over," Stryker said, regretfully. "Atom bombs. Germ warfare. Everything push-button. Rifles and machine guns will soon be obsolete. Soon even soldiers will be obsolete."
    "There will always be a need for the trooper, Captain Stryker. Now see about the disposal of the dead men and get after those Chinese guards. Don't be too harsh with the guards. We don't want any incidents to mar our harmonious relationships, do we?"
    "I will attend to everything." Stryker bowed stiffly and stalked out.
    A good man, Bormann thought, watching the door close behind Captain Stryker. Not exactly brainy but loyal to the cause.
    He finished his whisky.
    There was too much at stake to allow this elusive enemy to wreck his plans. He was close, very close, to accomplishing the impossible. Yes, the impossible. A Germany with a democratic form of government. Only a miracle could entirely tear it down. But there was a good chance; the recent